To be the only IT guy? 1

[f0rmat]

Here's a question... I currently work for a small/midsize company. We're about 400 employees, but have probably 400+ servers including our development stuff.. so we have alot going on. First job out of school, been here for 5 years part of a 4 person team in the states. I've learned alot and now am exploring other options.

My curious question is... what are small businesses like when you're the only IT guy? I started doing helpdesk here.. grew into a sys admin role, but retained the helpdesk role(which I hate.) The downside to working as "the only IT guy" is that you have to do helpdesk as well as the rest of the business.

Upside? Maybe less stress because it's a far less complex environment? Downside? When something goes wrong, it's on your head?

I'm interested to find out everyone's experiences with small businesses in their careers.

I'm not sure if I want to make that switch.

 

[mrdenny]

I've been doing this for about a decade at this point. I've worked in large shops (Earthlink.net, MySpace.com), Mid-size shops, and small shops (like where I work now). It's different for all people. I'm enjoying the small shops at the moment as there is a lot of freedom to work in all areas of IT, where in large shops you do one thing, and one thing only. Depending on your experience level, your management, and coworkers you can sometimes do that in mid-size shops.

If you want to be able to keep working in several different areas of IT then stick with a smaller shop. If you want to work in a single area of IT then moving into a larger shop may be something you want to do. You can always move back to a smaller shop (as I've done) after working in a larger shop.

Denny
MCSA (2003) / MCDBA (SQL 2000)
MCTS (SQL 2005 / Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0: Configuration / Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007: Configuration)
MCITP Database Administrator (SQL 2005) / Database Developer (SQL 2005)

My Blog

 

[f0rmat]

That's kind of where things get tricky for me. I work in a pretty diverse environment right now, and I really like that. We have alot going on and there's alot of different technologies that I get to play with and mess around with. I feel like possibly moving someplace small, where there's not alot of budget for spending anything, could be bad... or maybe they have a huge budget and there's lots of new toys hanging about.

At your current position, are you the only IT guy? or are there a few of you?

The concern I have is I'm trying to get out of a helpdesk/system admin type role and fit into a predominantly system admin role with 5-10% helpdesk as needed, rather than a 50/50 or 60/40(helpdesk) split type deal.

Do you find that sometimes small shops are more self sufficient? I get the feeling that at my current job, everyone is just dependent on IT.

 

[mrdenny]

It really depends on the shop. The shops I've been working at are technology shops so the need for a help desk is minimal at best. Currently our QA guy handles the help desk stuff, while I handle the sysadmin, dba, network admin, etc.

At smaller shops which aren't tech shops the help desk requirements will be much higher.

Denny
MCSA (2003) / MCDBA (SQL 2000)
MCTS (SQL 2005 / Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0: Configuration / Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007: Configuration)
MCITP Database Administrator (SQL 2005) / Database Developer (SQL 2005)

My Blog

 

[shoalcreek]

I did this role for two years for an office of Big Brothers Big Sisters. Being a non-profit, it was a pretty low-pressure role. Few things if any were an emergency.

As you can also guess, the pay was pretty low. But when I started there in the summer of 2002, I was just happy to have a job. We also didn't have a lot of money for things.

There are many advantages. You can often create your own projects and make the decisions. I didn't have a budget, however, so all purchases had to be approved. If something went wrong, it was my own fault.

I was also fortunate that I took over for a guy who left a lot of good notes. We also had a week of overlap so he could show me how it all worked.

People were good to me. Users generally appreciate what you do. When you are the only IT guy, they know that you are the only one who can solve the problems. Therefore, they are much less likely to stab you in the back.

The biggest disadvantage is that you will get calls when you aren't there. You are always on-call. The good thing was that I liked the people I worked with. It was also low pressure.

I'm doing it again for another company, made up of geological consultants. It's probably the smartest group of people I've worked with. I don't get asked to reset passwords or other stupid questions. I still do get to take care of the big issues.

The biggest problem was that my predecessor left a bunch of messes that I had to clean up. His notes were almost non-existent as well. He left me with about seven laptops that were separated from their plugs.

The worst part with such a job is that you can't move up in the company.

Are you really the only IT guy for a company with 400 people? That's a lot of people and servers to support.

 

[f0rmat]

nope, not the only IT guy. We have (from an Ops group) 7 people. 4 of us are in america, the other 3 are overseas. I support alot of our development environment as well as parts of the business environment.. and am the go to guy for all helpdesk stuff in the states(about 150-200 users). Still a busy environment, but good grief.. if it was only me here, I'd have gone batty by now

 

[kmcferrin]

Hmm...

I've been in positions where I was the only IT guy, the senior IT guy on a team of three (with two PC techs working under me), and where I was a member of a team of a dozen people in an IT group that numbered in the hundreds.

In the large enterprise you tend to become very focused on one particular product/skillset and learn a great deal about it. Those skills are handy to have, but it can get boring when you do nothing but Exchange all day long, and the people that you work with do nothing but Exchange all day long.

In the small business where you're the only IT guy it can be very frustrating. You usually end up spending a lot more time than you need to doing desktop support, and so the servers get neglected. It's just the nature of the beast really. Desktop support is about users who have needs right now. Server administration is perceived as something that happens in the background. Consequently, desktop support ends up being higher profile and "more important" unless there is an outage of some sort. You constantly get interrupted and don't get a lot of time to devote to server work, which can stifle your career. But you do get to be responsible for everything.

My favorite position is to be somewhere in between those two. If you're the server/network guy and you have a PC tech or two running interference from the users then you have a lot more time to focus on the server/network duties. You usually still at a smaller shop so you get a chance to get your hands into everything, and things tend to be fairly manageable. It's a nice place to be, though you lose out on the experience of dealing with very large infrastructures.

In your position if you're supporting a couple hundred end users AND a couple hundred servers, you really should have some help. Either there should be Desktop Tech handling most of that work or there should be a Server Admin handling most of that work. Unless you're working crazy hours there probably isn't enough time in the day to make sure that EVERYTHING gets done, unless you have a very static environment.

The only other thing that I would say is that generally it's best for smaller companies to NOT hire someone right out of school to be their sole IT guy, responsible for servers and desktops and networking. While they might be smart they typically don't have nearly enough knowledge or experience to be designing and maintaining complex IT infrastructures. They usually work a couple of years until they move on to something better, and then the next guy comes in and says "what the heck was that last guy thinking?!?!"

________________________________________
CompTIA A+, Network+, Server+, Security+
MCSE:Security 2003
MCITP:Enterprise Administrator

 

[imeldesign]

I am the only IT "guy" or gal as is were. I do it all; computers, phones, network, and even the website. Before me they didn't have an IT department. My first three years were hectic mostly because everything was ancient and needed replaced. New phone system, new servers, new wiring, new switches, then when it came to replacing the win 98 pc desktops I went with thin clients that connect to a Terminal Server. Repair time went from 70% down to nil. I can manage all of them from my desk. It has been five years and now I am the point of somewhat normal hours. Took a vacation last week and for the first time ....not one phone call from work.
(I've spent a lot of time in the last year teaching users to THINK before they call trying to get them to apply what they have learned.)

 

[edfair]

I'm kinda the one man shop except my users are 8 different small companies. And at 5 of them I can wash my hands of the Windows stuff except when that tech screws up something on the network.

As such, I tend to spend more time getting educated with the different hardware and software than I would have to do if I were part of a larger organization.

I did spend time in a big organization where there was specialization. You can get stuck there by being too specialized or if management doesn't spread the training and load. Nothing like coming off vacation to find that nobody covered your calls while you were off.

In the medium sized IT shop you end up with problems with workload issues when it comes to training or vacation.

 

[anationalacrobat]

I like the smaller shops. Exactly what was said above, larger companies cause you to become too specialized. You stick with them too long, then you become ghettoized. I worked at a place with a lot of AS/400 guys and you could smell the desperation. Who needs RPG programmers these days? Everyone wants the new Microsoft crap with specs that change every version and learning curves that look like Everest. The career path most people shoot for is working hard when you're young and capable of handling the strain, amassing a wealth of knowledge that will make the later years smoother sailing. That ain't happening these days. With the rapid turnover of technology, that amassed knowledge has an expiration date and the middle-aged programmers who have families and expenses are tossed right into the cattle call along with the fresh-faced college grads. Hiring managers don't value knowledge and experience, they know they can get three kids for the price of one adult and so think they're getting three times the value. Tell them nine women can't have a baby in one month and they'll just look at you funny.

I don't have all the answers and I don't know if my answers will pan out. For myself, I'm planning on sticking with the "plumbing" side of IT. The conventional wisdom says there will always need to be plumbers, your toilet can't get unstuck from over in India. Most companies are too disorganized and chaotic to put in the kind of thinking required for an implementation plan that can be sent off to India. They'll always need people in-house who can translate between businessese and techese, to whack on the laptop when it's misbehaving, find out why the mail isn't getting delivered, straighten out a spreadsheet, etc. I think there will always be a need for this sort of technical generalist. And when something more specialized needs done, such a generalist will know who to call and can recognize BS when he sees it. I know these positions are needed. The trick, of course, is convincing businesses to pay for it.

 

[ousoonerjoe]

After doing the large international companies with a couple small shops, I've come to really appreciate the small shops. While the pay may not be as nice, and the benies typically aren't as cheap, there are other side benefits you can't list in a job wanted add. Once you have the house setup like you want/need (like imeldesign mentioned), the job gets MUCH easier. There is a lot of training the employees. A certain amount of patience is definitely required. You need to be able to speak English and not tech to them and not talk over their heads all the time. A lot of IT people (regardless of position) have a hard time with this. Most IT people get into computers to get away from having to deal with people, but in a small shop you are all they have and it scares them. You deal with things that can shut down the entire production and they have no idea how to fix it. Talking over them only makes it worse for them and for you. Remember, you don't know all the lingo in their job, they don't know yours.

On the other hand, you aren't tied down to one particular duty. You can take a 2 hour lunch if you need at times, and the hours aren't as ridged as they are at a corporate setting. The boss is more likely to give you his extra tickets to the game and raises aren't usually tied to the 2-5% scale that big businesses like to use. You are more likely to get a big raise and/or bonus if you work hard enough getting everything settled and stable. As they trust you more and can rely on you more your budget requests get easier and easier to justify on your ROI's.

Some people like the big corp and the mentality that goes with it. For me it was too mechanical and assembly line oriented. The communication with co-workers and management was minimal. Working on the same 5 programs day in and day out gets very old very fast. In the small shop, people depend on you to take care of so many different things. Even with programming as my primary task, I rarely spend more than a day or two on the same thing. There seems to be a greater appreciation for what you do from those you work for/with. In return, I find myself having more pride in the work I do and being a little more attentive to the details. I also like wearing jeans to work. Something big comps don't allow.

Just my 2 cents. I've been the only IT guy and I've been a part of a 500+ international department. I'll take a small shop over Big Business every time.

"If I were to wake up with my head sewn to the carpet, I wouldn't be more surprised than I am right now.

 

[NickFerrar]

400 desktops and 400 servers is a pretty big environment for 4 people to look after. My team's 5 people and we look after 120 servers (although we do consultancy etc. as well).

I moved from a small company (80 office staff) where I was the new junior guy so did all the ops stuff (changing tapes), helpdesk (Excel spreadsheet) and some programming, PC and server support. I learnt a lot but grew to hate the helpdesk & ops side

I moved on to a large company (25,000 office staff worldwide) and although started in the same type of mixed role it allowed my to move into a dedicated server role later on (by which time I'd grown to hate doing desktop support as well so was ideal).

If you're stuck in a small company wanting to get out of helpdesk stuff then I'd suggest to your boss you get a trainee/apprentice in for 6 months at a time on work experience, they get to do all the crappy jobs you've got bored of but to them it's all new stuff and useful experience. You don't really need to invest much time in training so after their work experience ends you just get someone new and repeat.

 

[shoalcreek]

Some companies don't have the budget to hire another IT person. They also may not have enough work for them.

 

[kmcferrin]

Some companies don't have the budget to hire another IT person. They also may not have enough work for them.

I would say that if a company doesn't have enough work for another IT person then there's no need for one. But if there is a need for another IT person then getting the budget shouldn't be that hard. It's just a matter of demonstrating value. If the benefits of having the second IT person on staff outweigh the costs, then it should be much easier to find the budget. Whether it's an increase in productivity, a reduction in overtime pay, or something else, there are almost always demonstrable benefits.

________________________________________
CompTIA A+, Network+, Server+, Security+
MCSE:Security 2003
MCITP:Enterprise Administrator

 

[shoalcreek]

Some organizations have about 30-40 hours of work for an IT person. An organization that has that amount of work needs one person and one person only.

 

[KornGeek]

I would say that if a company doesn't have enough work for another IT person then there's no need for one. But if there is a need for another IT person then getting the budget shouldn't be that hard. It's just a matter of demonstrating value.

Not necessarily.

I did some temp work at an industrial printing plant. They needed a database repaired that was severely broken. I came in, made the fixes, added some enhancements, then left. Working solely on this database, I could have kept busy for 40 hours each week indefinitely (they kept finding enhancements that they wanted).

Unfortunately, the nature of that industry is that revenue comes in cycles. When they get a large order, the cash comes pouring in (which is why they could afford to get the database fixed and upgraded), but if a run goes bad, they suddenly have a huge loss.

To keep me on staff (which the CEO told me he would have liked to do), they would have had to lay off a few pressmen when times got tough. For a printing company, that just doesn't make sense. It worked better for them to pay a bit more in the short term and only have their highest priorities addressed.

 

[kmcferrin]

Shoalcreek, I'm not sure what you're getting at. I said:

I would say that if a company doesn't have enough work for another IT person then there's no need for one.

I'm not sure that there's any disagreement there.

Korngeek, regarding your example I would say that they didn't NEED a full time IT person. They may have had wants and desires of having a DB guy on staff, but they clearly didn't need one full time.

________________________________________
CompTIA A+, Network+, Server+, Security+
MCSE:Security 2003
MCITP:Enterprise Administrator

 

[KornGeek]

I would agree that they didn't need a DB guy full time, but I was arguing that they did have a need, even if it wasn't on an ongoing basis. This is where temp agencies fit perfectly.

(Before I even finished that job, the agency had another job lined up for me. However, after that one finished, it was a significant period of time before they found me something else.)

 

[theEclipse]

I am "the IT guy" in a small private school. At our beginning of the year meeting one of the staff members asked me: "What is an IT?"

I have been working here two years already. My budget is non-existent and I get paid < 1/5 of what most people with my skillset average. I support 15-20 computers, depending on if you include everybodies personal laptops or not. We have two "servers" but one is a winXP64 machine because our budget can't afford nasty licensing for win server, and the other is a linux box that really hopes to takeover the job of the xp.

I do everything technology for them. I research, purchase, assemble, and instruct in the use of new equipment. We just moved into a new building and I went in and pulled wire and installed phones and internet. I teach my boss how to use MS Word and reset her password at least twice a year...usually sometime during the kids' finals week.

I enjoy it. Every once in a while I have to be the onsite reset tech. for a day and I get calls at all hours of the day -- which is not at all fun -- but it is worth it to do the rest of my job. When I started I had no idea how to wire up a phone system or how to configure automatic backups: I was a programmer...fresh out of college with a BA in CS.

The best part, for me, is when my boss says "Hey Rob! I got this great idea [...] can you do that?" and I think for a second and say "I think so...yea I can" and she just jumps for joy.

I have worked in "Big IT" and can't stand it. For me a small co is the only way to go. YMMV.

Robert Carpenter
Remember....eternity is much longer than this ~80 years we will spend roaming this earth.
ô¿ô

http://www.robertcarpenter.net

 

[waggie2008]

I have to say the job I was hired for is human resources but my job also encompasses IT. Our controller retired who had a lot of computer experience. Through experience, I am now the go to gal. I'm not up to pulling wire yet but if computers break, routers break, passwords need to be reset, setting up email, maintaining the intranet, I do it all.

I guess I have two views on this. As the sole HR/IT person, working for a company with 120 employees, the benefits are that I get to do everything. The downside is that I get phone calls at all hours. I do like the exposure to all the different aspects and I am considering going back to school to get a minor in CS.